As generations of dancers move on and off the stage, working hard for their very short lived moment in the spotlight, we can rest assured that there will be many classic Van Manen pieces in the repertoire for them to dance.

Bang on a Can All-Stars are by no means small fish in a big pond. Their work within the world of minimalist and contemporary music, as well as their collaboration with some of the biggest names in 20th-century music, has made of them today a name respected by any fan of John Cage, Steve Reich, Terry Riley or Brian Eno (to name but a few of the best).

It was a surprising afternoon of world premières at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw this weekend. With promises of young talent, such as the rising Dutch recorder player Erik Bosgraaf, and daring new compositions by Peter Adriaansz and Louis Andriessen, the event shed some light on the state of modern music today.

Tête à Tête: The Opera Festival has once again succeeded in showcasing with flair some of the most daring and innovative small-scale operas. This Sunday, a diverse audience gathered at London’s Riverside Studios for the performance of Louis Andriessen’s recent monodrama Anaïs Nin (2009-10).

To judge by the continued chatter, no-one noticed 100 metronomes on stage being set in motion, signalling the beginning of György Ligeti’s Poème symphonique (1962). Even when the lights were dimmed it only dawned on people slowly that the concert had actually already begun.

Louis Andriessen is my favourite Dutch composer, but even here in the Netherlands his works are underperformed. So it was all the more exciting that the Clazz Ensemble presented a program solely with works by Andriessen.

The gentle sound of a kettle coming to the boil was the intriguing start to the UK premiere of Louis Andriessen’s work for singer, ensemble and film, Anaïs Nin. The peeling and eating of a banana gave rather more of a clue as to what was to come, in a concert that carried the warning “This concert contains explicit content and language and is recommended for ages 16 and over”.